Renee walked back into the hotel at five till ten. The Denney's was a mad house she forgot it was Saturday. She almost changed her mind about kids until a woman walked in as she walked out with the most beautiful baby girl. Her heart did that flip, and flop thing and she knew she was going to look for a house with several bedrooms.
A woman walked in moments later and Renee approached her. Denise Richards was the one given this client.
"Mrs. Blankenship I'm Denise Richards I have picked out a number of homes for you. As I understand you're looking in the one million and lower market."
"Yes, I just sold mine and would like to leave the Austin area. I want a home big enough for a family in a good school district and well you know a good area. I don't know Dallas well so I'm depending on you to show me the right area."
"Yes Ma'am,"
Renee lifted her hand to stop her. "Just call me Renee I'm thinking I'm younger than you."
"That is true so I lined up some showings in this area and if you want to widen your search, we could look on Monday also."
"Sounds good to me shall we go."
"Let's do this, so tell me what type of home are you interested in newer older how many bedrooms?" she asked as they walked to her car.
Three houses in and Renee was getting a feel what her money could buy in this area. She had one more house to show her and then they would go to the northern end of the city. She would show her newer homes where she could get a much larger home for the money if location was not an issue. Apparently, this area was an old established area, and it was close to hospitals and convenient, to downtown. "You know Doctors and Lawyers and such live in the area." As far as Denise knew she was an independently wealthy widow and Renee left it like that. The woman had no right to her life plus she knew she would look her up when she gets to a computer if she hasn't already looked.
"This area here the homes were built in the forties to sixties. They are well-built, and a number have been upgraded recently. The one I'm going to show you is being worked on right now. If you like it you could decide the color scheme and the tile on the next one," she told her, and Renee smiled what a coincidence.
She pulled up in front of a larger home on a tree-covered lane it was lovely. It set a mood, one she liked. The home was Ok she sees why they are working on it to sell. Even from the outside, it screamed fifties money. A man came around the side of the house next door with a puppy chasing him as a small boy chased them both giggling. The dog looked to be a few months old golden retriever. Renee stood and watched the scene unfold as the man stopped running and stared at her. "Oh my God it is Toby," Renee whispered as he approached.
"Well Renee nice to see you again," he said, and she was impressed he remembered her name.
"Yes, you too; I'm house shopping and thinking about having a place here too." She told him as the puppy played with his son. Scrambling around to jump all over the boy.
"It's a nice house I know the woman who is selling it. When you finish come over and I'll show you mine. The same contractor is working on her house. He did mine last year," he told her still looking at her the same way he did last night. An old woman stepped out on the porch and announced lunch. Toby smiled and said, "Not my wife either," he told her and walked away.
"Smart ass," she whispered and turned her attention to Denise. Passing her an information page about the house the taxes square footage and rooms. All the information about the house you would need.
"You know him," Denise asked sounding so excited.
"Yes; we met last night at dinner he is a big flirt."
"I've heard, but lord he is handsome," Denise told her.
"That he is," she said and watched him enter his house. "So, this is three bedrooms a study and a media room?" Renee asked getting back to the house.
"You don't know who he is, do you?"
"A handsome man with money I assume."
"Oh yeah, he has money. He is our local movie star. He had one blockbuster about two years ago and a new one out at Christmas. It is supposed to be even bigger. You should rent the movie on pay for view at your hotel. I think it was called Shattered Dreams."
"Lord that sounds like my life," Renee complained and started looking around the house. It was a nice big house and it looked like they were opening the kitchen to the living area by the way the work was going. They had redone the master bath and replaced the old sliding doors. It had no pool which made Renee happy. She only swam twice this year, so it was an expensive yard ornament. With the chemicals and the pool cleaner man having to be paid, she would rather not bother.
On a fold-out table sat samples of granite, paint colors pallets, and cabinet doors to choose from. It appeared they were waiting for the buyer to choose as they worked on other parts of the house. It looked like they made a media room out of one or two bedrooms upstairs and the hallway with a bathroom attached. It was a nice big room with room for at least eight or ten chairs and a large screen would easily fit on a blank wall.
The house now has three bedrooms, a study, five baths, and a media room. This would work for our times. Families aren't having a bunch of kids anymore and she only wanted two. She walked around the property and the tree's leaves were changing color it appeared they had leveled the house and planted new shrubs. The good thing about this house was everything would be fixed before she moved in. The question was does she want to live in Dallas?
"Are you going to take Toby up on his offer to see his house?" Denise asked sounding excited at the chance to see his home.
"You want me to." Renee teased and Denise smiled.
Walking across the front of his house she notices the bars on the windows and the noticeable security notice. Renee scanned the other homes and saw little plaques in front of most of them with different security firms. Denise noticed her concern.
"This is a safe neighborhood these people have expensive things and don't want to lose them," Denise offered keeping the fact that Toby had been shot in the house they just toured, from her.
"No, I understand my house was burglarized just two weeks ago while I was on vacation, and they emptied my house. The good thing was I put my important things and papers in my safety deposit box before I left. Otherwise, I would have had nothing. I couldn't set the security alarm with the realtors coming and going," Renee explained.
"Yes, that is a problem, and we never know when someone is house hunting or house casing."
"That's Ok I didn't want the furniture and who doesn't want new clothes," Renee told her as if it was not a big deal. In truth her leaving Austin had that and all the crap Martin was involved in pushing her on. She desperately wanted a new life in a perfect world.
They could hear piano music being played as they approached the door. It sounds like someone was trying to figure out a song Renee thought as she rang the bell. Her stomach did a little flutter at the thought of seeing him again. Toby his puppy and his son answered the door she had to smile at the happy trio.
"So, what did you think of the house," he asked opening the door to let them in.
"It is going to be beautiful," she said looking at the paper the price was only eight hundred and five well under her top price. She had to remember she didn't have the money from her old house yet and she had only seen a few. She got her excitement under control and looked around.
He walked them inside and began to tell them how this house used to look. He painted a bleak picture of what they were looking at. "This is my passion taking old homes and making them new and beautiful. I have about five million wrapped up in property and two million wrapped up in remodels around town. They sell as fast as we finish them," he said sounding proud.
"So, this is what you're doing now?" Denise asked.
"Yes, my new movie comes out this Christmas so that will be a crazy time for us; but yes, flipping is what I do. HGTV contacted my agent about making a new series for the Dallas area on flipping. They are coming next week to film a pilot. I'm not sure about doing it so they are prepared for a no. It's not like I would be on all the time. I don't do the redo I just pick the houses and give the professionals my ideas and they do the work. We have several realtors around town who call me when they have a seller who has a nice home but needs work. I pick it up at a good price and they are happy and can walk away not having to pay a bunch to fix it up to just sell. Kind of an upscale we buy ugly houses. That is how I got this house," Toby offered his take on how things were done as he walked them through the house. He has done this a few times and it seems to help sell the other houses quicker. The buyers can see that it will be done to perfection when it is done. Also, it seems to thrill the wives to be in his house. All he must do is pay the cleaning lady to come more often, especially with the dog hair now.
It took some convincing to talk Sam, the man who did the work on his house, into partnering up with him in this flipping deal; but he keeps him and twenty other men working solid on all the projects. Nothing takes more than eight weeks and then it is sold quickly. His old boss Louise's place next door has two weeks more to go, but he was allowing time for the new buyer to pick the basics. He feels it helps with the higher-priced property. She was living in a retirement center and right now is living on her savings. Toby bought her a nice apartment at the senior center, and he will be paid back when the house sells. She had gotten so frail she needed more help than he or her son could give and still have a life. He hated she didn't live next door anymore, but he was keeping an eye out for a house that would suit his lifestyle better. He wants something that has a big yard and the ability to have a fence built around it or one already there. He is afraid with the new movie coming out his popularity will surge again and the neighbors will be overwhelmed by the fans and want to kick him out of the neighborhood. As it was a slow parade of cars passed by all day.
He was warned the commercials would start in a month pushing for a big Christmas release. He hasn't received a copy of the movie but has heard it is scary as hell. Merry Christmas let's scare the hell out of you.
The little lady walking in front of him had all his attention and thank God his son was keeping busy with the puppy. They bought him from a service dog group. Duke is going to be huge and was a little too rambunctious for their purposes. One of the ladies knew Toby was looking for a puppy and sold him to them. Travis was thrilled. He was housebroken at the age of twelve weeks and has been a wonderful pet only chewing one shoe. They quickly learned to put their things up. Toby thought as he ran by Rene clipping her knee and almost knocking her down. Toby grabbed her arm to hold her up and got on to Travis to control the dog. They both slipped away ending up under the piano playing tug of war with a stuffed animal. He was good for him it kept him moving.
He wanted this woman's full name and number before she left this house, so he better find the balls to approach her with the request again. He followed her into his room she seemed very interested in the room as did the realtor. As they stepped into his bathroom Renee smiled. She liked the way he had it set up. He had a great big shower and the bidet let her know quickly what he liked.
"So, Renee since you're going to be in town a little longer would you be interested in going out to dinner?" Toby asked when she turned to leave the bathroom. He watched her face strobe red, and she looked at the floor.
"Sure, I would love to go out. When?" she asked not believing he had asked her out.
"Tonight would be good for me. I want to make sure I get to know you before you head out of town," he offered.
"Ok, do you want to pick me up or shall we meet somewhere?" Renee asked still flushing red as they talked and walked. Denise was standing over to the side grinning happily for her.
"Let's do this give me your number and we can figure that out later. I will be able to look for a good place near where you're staying." He offered sounding reasonable as he pulled out his phone to take down her number.
She gave him her number and it was an Austin area code so at least she was not lying about that.
"Ok thanks and your last name is," he asked wanting to check her out just as he knew she would check him out. He could tell there used to be a ring on her left hand. It had to have been there a long time to leave that mark. He will find out tonight her story before he puts any more energy into this woman. He has been burned too often in his love life. He also knows if he doesn't keep looking, he will be alone for the rest of his life, and he doesn't like that fate.
Toby quickly went to his bedroom window to watch the two women leave. He wanted to see Renee's reaction to the date. She was all smiles as she sat in the realtor's car.
"I can't believe he asked you out," Denise said when she started the car.
"I know this is crazy, he was interested last night too, but I blew him off." Renee offered to look at this house. Donor popped into her head,
"So, do you want to keep looking or start up again on Monday?"
"I think I need to go back to the hotel and watch his movie," Renee told her. She kind of remembers hype around some Texas movie but they were never moviegoers.
"I think that is a good idea you can see what he has to offer and girl it is a lot." Denise teased and Renee wondered if it was porn. She has never seen porn so yes; she needs to watch. If it is, she is not going out with him no matter how cute he is. But yeah, she wasn't brooding about Caleb anymore.
This was the second time another man had taken her mind off him easily. She wondered what Keith was up to. He was not interested in seeing her again. He never called her. Her mood dropped again. She had to decide what to do with her life those eggs were screaming at her. She wondered what Toby was looking for besides a piece of ass. Isn't that what every man is after?
*
The first thing she did was pick up her computer and sit on her couch. Toby McBride had page after page of stories the first was the new movie. She began to scan the stories his son caught her attention. He was a genius with an IQ of over 160 that they could test at his young age, which was a year-old story. They had a long story about how exceptional he was, and he scored the music for his father's new film and is working on the ending credits. "Ok, you have good children where is the mother?" Renee grunted and kept looking.
She found a video of his father acting a fool. She knows he has alcoholic parents they share that. As far as she can see he was rags to riches they shared that too. Ah ha, he bought the business he was working at when he was found for the movie. He was fascinated by his history and his outlook on life.
She popped her name in the search to see what he would find. Her husband died in jail. They gave a clean run down of his stupidity. And a link to her YouTube videos of some of her old car ads. They looked to be about five years old, and she had grown up so much. No wonder Martin was so interested in her ten years ago. While she was on YouTube, she looked at the Shatter Dreams promo and read the comments. There is a butt shot and the women love the movie. Picking up the TV changer she found the pay-per-view channels found the movie and started it up.
She sat with her laptop in her lap as the movie started expecting to scan the information and watch the movie. The closing credits came, and she realized she hadn't looked once at the computer. Yes, he has a nice ass, and he is funny and sexy. She loved the pissed-off scene. He played it so well and was reminiscent of her fit about Martin. She hadn't thought to tear up the sheets. She turned the TV off and began to watch the YouTube clips. She found one where he was complaining to a News person about his father and the actress Missy Collins was standing with him. So, they became friends more after the movie. "That is interesting," Renee mused and went to the next video. She was little and blonde, so she was his type.
Her phone rang and she hoped it was not Caleb. Nope, Toby's name popped up on her screen. "Yes hello," she quickly shot out.
"Well, hello so what do you think would be good for dinner?" he asked sounding very casual as if they had known each other forever.
"I don't know my dinner last night was good. I'm not interested in something fancy. I only brought casual clothes." She was expecting to be sequestered in Caleb's bed all weekend.
"Good I'm not a suite man," he said, and she thought about how good he looked in the one in that movie.
"Ok, so we are back to where, when, and are you coming to pick me up?" Renee pointed out rolling with his I have known you forever ploy.
"Let me ask you first. How much time have you spent on the internet looking me up? Because I know for a fact you had no idea who I was," Toby asked cutting to the chase.
"Well let me ask. How much time did you spend on the internet looking me up," She asked with a smart-alecky flair.
"I did but I think you had more to look at."
"True I was disappointed how little footprint I have made on the net. I mean I did make some cute commercials over the years," she complained in a teasing manner.
"I noticed. You looked like a baby in some of them. What did you do to start making them when you were a teen?"
"No that was just four years ago. My life lately has been wearing on me, so I look older."
"I'm sorry your husband died over a drunken driving charge. I hope you sued them they should have protected him better," Toby forcefully said.
"No," Renee said a little more forceful them she expected. "There was a lot more going on so no I will not be suing. So where to? I didn't have lunch so I'm hungry."
"Oh, I hate having to decide. Let me tell you what is close to the Olive Garden. I assumed you're staying close by to be eating there."
"I am and aren't you smart."
With a slight chuckle, he began to read off the names.
"Do you like Chinese food?" Renee asked as the list was turning to fast food.
"I do is that where you want to go?"
"Yes, if you're Ok with it. I haven't eaten Chinese in years. When I was in college, we ate at a buffet at least once a week.
"Ok, there is a big buffet just a few miles further up the road that has everything you could ever want. Travis loves eating there."
"Sounds good just don't think I'm a pig. I'm looking forward to eating tonight."
"Good I can't stand a salad-eating ditz," Toby offered and then realized she may be only hungry tonight. He put his foot in his mouth again. He heard her laugh and felt better.
"No, I'm an eater."
"Good so where are you and what time do you want me there?" he asked sounding excited to be going out with her.
Renee spent a good hour getting ready to look casual. She picked an outfit that won't show her stomach once she fills up. This was a crazy out-of-the-blue date and she didn't need to put on airs. He will have to accept her as she is. Nine years of being perfect has taken its toll. Renee is back and if she was tacky so be it, Toby watch out.